Davenport, IA
(52801)

Today

Tonight

Diane Lichtenberg, whose son Kyle plays football at Iowa State, visits with football coach Paul Rhoads during the annual Iowa State Tailgate at Modern Woodman Park in Davenport, Iowa Wednesday May 12, 2010.

ISU coach seeks level playing field

Diane Lichtenberg, whose son Kyle plays football at Iowa State, visits with football coach Paul Rhoads during the annual Iowa State Tailgate at Modern Woodman Park in Davenport, Iowa Wednesday May 12, 2010.

"The college game seems to be headed in that direction with more
conference competition rather than less," Rhoads said during the
Cyclone Tailgate Tour's Quad-Cities stop last week. "If we're going
to play nine conference games, which we are, I'd like everybody
else to play nine, too.''

With its revamped lineup of 10 schools, the Big 12 shifts from
an eight-game conference schedule to nine league games this
fall.

The schedule change implemented after the departure of Nebraska
and Colorado for other conferences leaves ISU playing 11 of its 12
games during the 2011 season against teams from BCS
conferences.

"I'd prefer that not to be the case every year, but we'll deal
with it," said Rhoads, who suspects that Iowa State will face 10
BCS schools - nine in the Big 12 and nonconference foe Iowa - on an
annual basis in future 12-game schedules.

Get breaking news sent instantly to your inbox

QCTimes.com Breaking News

Obituaries

I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site consitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.

"What I think coaches want is some balance. You don't want to
put yourself at a disadvantage when it comes to qualifying for
bowls compared to teams from other conferences."

Rhoads said the new Big 12 alignment, which guarantees Iowa
State two games in Texas each year, already is paying dividends in
recruiting the talent-rich state.

"It helped us this past year as we recruited (Mesquite, Texas,
defensive back) Jared Brackens," Rhoads said. "We're giving those
kids more chances to go back to their home state and compete on a
consistent basis. Nebraska can't offer those Texas kids that
anymore."